


A Means to An End

by BobCat_97



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Angst, Batarian War, Character Death, Depression, Destroy Ending, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Happy Ending, Paragon Commander Shepard, Post-Mass Effect 3, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Violence, earth born, krogan war
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2016-03-14
Packaged: 2018-05-10 12:35:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5585593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BobCat_97/pseuds/BobCat_97
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After successfully destroying the Reapers, Jane Shepard finds herself thrown into a whole problem. When the Council refused to meet the demands by the krogan, batarians, and the quarians, rebel forces formed to go against the Council and form their own. Humans, on the other hand, contemplated on joining them when the Council made no effort to instate a new Human Councillor.</p><p>And Shepard began to think dealing with the Reapers were much easier.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hell rather than Peace

_"If this thing goes sideways and we end up on the other side, meet me at the bar. I'm buying."_

Shepard gasped for air, her ribs aching with each move her chest made. Her eyes met stars as her mind ran through everything that just happened. And to her complete surprise, Shepard lived through all of it. The explosions, the destruction of her implants, all of it. She should be dead but here she was, pain racking her body, pinned down under rumble.

Moving her legs under the slabs of concrete, Shepard was grateful to know she could use them, that she wasn't paralyzed. But when she rotated her shoulders, her left one blossomed in tear tugging agony and it made Shepard cry out. Dislocated, broken even, and the pain didn't spread down her arm like it should. No, it remained in her shoulder area and traveled slightly to the area around it.

Her arm was numb to the pain.

Unusable.

It didn't frighten Shepard though. Hell, she died once so an unusable limb was nothing. If she could still use her other arm and two legs, that was enough for Shepard to escape the confines of the rubble and find some way to contact the Alliance.

Shepard held her breath as she lifted her legs to knock the debris from them. Ignoring the angry protests her body made, Shepard used her unbroken arm to shove rubble off her waist and her numb arm.

"Fuck..." Shepard breathed out, dropping her head back as pain pulsed through her body. Surely there was internal bleeding and more broken bones she couldn't outright see. But she could already feel her skin weave together the cuts and scrapes, mending the bruises but leaving the shattered bones. Shepard couldn't stay sitting there forever though, she had to find some way to get off this blasted sheet of metal and get proper medical attention.

_Is he still alive?_

She knew Garrus made it onto the Normandy but did it survive when she fired the Conduit? The thought of him dying...No, Shepard shook her head at such thoughts as she forced her legs to obey her demand to stand. And they did, her legs trembling but not crumbling and Shepard took that as a good sign.

Finally standing, Shepard got a good look at the room she occupied and she hated it. This room made her remember Anderson's death, his passing bringing tears to her eyes. That man was like a father to her, something she never had back on Earth. But Fate was a cruel bitch and ripped Anderson from her life, along with many other people she cared about.

The sudden flickering of lights had Shepard raising her eyebrow in question before heading over to the little platform she took to get up to this damned place. In truth, Shepard expected it to not work, not when this whole place was now a giant graveyard but once she stepped onto it, the platform began to sink down slowly. 

Shepard sighed in relief as she held her useless arm to her side, her eyes closing to find a moment of peace before she entered the room Anderson died in. Stepping off the platform with slow steps, Shepard stared blankly at the still form before her. She remembered snippets of the conversation the two had before he finally gave in to the darkness. She remembered calling his name over and over again but no response was made.

Shepard felt sick.

Wobbling around the body of the Illusive Man, Shepard strictly kept her eyes off of Anderson. Lights flickered again as she traversed across the room to walk into a hall littered with innocent corpses. People Shepard failed to save. People who had family and loved ones. Visible evidence that Shepard should be dead. Again. Not staring at charred remains of people she probably met once or twice, people who most likely looked up to the commander in hopes of ending this war.

The sight became too much.

Shepard emptied the contents in her stomach onto the metal floor below, mainly acidic liquid leaving her body. Wiping her mouth on her forearm, Shepard continued down the corridor, passing a busy Keeper who paid no mind to the mess around him. The Keepers. The name sparked understanding and Shepard put pieces together.

The Keepers were the ones causing the flickering lights, the ones making elevators and doors work. They've been repairing the Citadel ever since it became their firing weapon. So when Shepard stepped into an elevator, she was pleased to see all possible locations lit up that she could go to.

Picking the Embassies, Shepard stepped back to lean her back against the cool wall, the remaining pieces of her charred armor falling off with the movement. Now she only wore her torn under-suit, the fabric clearly not doing a good job at covering her body. A body Garrus would run with talons along, causing goosebumps as he explored every inch of her. A body the turian would curl up with, the two bodies molding perfectly together despite physical differences. A body Shepard didn't know Garrus had a thing for, a thing for a human really.

_I have to see him._

The determined thought had her stepping out of the elevator with strong steps as she made her way over to the Spectre office. Shepard hoped that with the repairs the Keepers were making, the communication hub would be available. If she couldn't project a holographic form, she could at the very least send a voice message.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After four tries, Shepard was successful in bringing up a static form of a woman in an Alliance uniform on the fifth try after tinkering around a bit with the cords. Shepard gripped the railing before with one hand as she waited for the woman to turn around to address Shepard. And once she did look at Shepard, the woman dropped all papers she held and ran out of view.

"Commander Shepard?" Hackett asked, taking the place of the woman who just frantically ran off. It was nice to see a familiar face, though. Even if he did have dark circles under his eyes and few more wrinkles from stress.

"Sorry, sir, I would salute right now but I can barely keep myself standing." Shepard said, her voice scratching roughly at her throat. Most likely from dehydration that caused the roughness. That and it was most likely bruised.

Hackett held up a hand in pardon, his face a complete mask of shock. "It's good to see you alive, Shepard, but to be honest I don't know exactly when we can send ships out to the Citadel to collect you." The admiral paused to run his hands down his tired face. "Whatever you did caused systems to fry and become nonfunctional. However, repairs went underway immediately with the help of the Quarians."

"Can you estimate a time, sir?" Shepard asked, her body begging for rest and medicine.

"I...I'm not sure I can, honestly." Hackett's words deflated Shepard and she sagged in defeat. She could be stranded out here for a week, a month, two months. Stranded with depleting oxygen and little to no food and water. And if she had to stay out here for a month, Shepard might as well kill herself now.

"Then work on transports that didn't crash, and hopefully, didn't fry. If you take the workers away from several individual projects to focus on one, a ship can be functional enough to pick me up within three days." Shepard explained, or ordered, to her superior officer. But she tossed rank out of the window if it meant her ass would get off this shit hole. 

"Understood, Commander. Don't wander too far for when I send updates." Hackett nodded before saluting to Shepard but it was something she couldn't do back. "By the way, Shepard, I'm glad you're alive. Hackett out." 

"You'll be the first one." Shepard mumbled, stepping away from the railing to wander over a far wall. Closing her eyes, her back slid down the wall as her body protested every inch of the way.

_And maybe the last._


	2. Miles Apart or Inches Apart?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Garrus hears word that Shepard was recovered by Alliances forces, the turian rushes to repair the Normandy to see his beloved Commander. However, when he does finally see her, does he like what he sees?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Years, my fellow readers! Thank you to everyone who's reading this. This is my second fanfic I'm writing and I hope to make this one great.

Garrus stood among a sea of rushing crew members, humans, as they hurried to bring the Normandy systems back online. The turian would join them in their repairs but...he felt no motivations. Communications were still down so Garrus was left in the dark when it came to news about Shepard. Has she survived? Did she die? Is the Alliance and any surrounding forces salvaging anything from the ruined Citadel? Each question Garrus had was left unanswered and little by little, he was dying on the inside.

"Garrus!" A voice, slightly electronically altered, drew Garrus' from his thoughts. He turned to watch a long-time friend of his and Shepard's jog up, the quarian's eyes bright and wide between the purple tinted screen of her mask.

"What's wrong Tali?" Garrus asked, patiently waiting for Tali to regain her breath.

"Just a few minutes ago, we were able to get the Normandy's communications up." The quarian announced but Garrus had a feeling she wasn't done talking, not when she appeared to be vibrating with joy. Something Garrus couldn't seem to feel. "And when that happened, messages poured in. Voice messages, requests, written messages. All of them came from the Alliance. They found Shepard, Garrus.  Alive but severely wounded but they say she'll live.

Time seemed to stop.

All the air felt his lungs, his mandibles slack with shock as he blinked dumbly at the quarian. Now Garrus understood why Tali seemed to happy, excited even. He guessed when Shepard's best friend heard the messages, read them, that she fainted or squealed with profound delight.

"Spirits..." Garrus, still shell-shocked, took a few steps back till a wall ceased his movement. "Tali, we have get this ship up and moving." He had to see her, had to know that Shepard was truly alive, breathing, still gracing the galaxy with her presence. The urge to see his red-haired commander bubbled determination in him, determination Garrus thought could never spark anymore.

"There's no Normandy without Shepard." Tali said, stepping forward to join him by his side. Garrus knew just how close the quarian was with Shepard. Since the day their commander ran down an alley with guns blazing, Shepard saving Tali from assassins wanting the memory core she possessed, Tail had unwavering love and loyalty to Shepard. From that day onward, the quarian helped Shepard without a second thought, not even hesitating in join Shepard for a suicide mission...or two. 

Even Garrus found a friend in Tali. They bonded over sharing various algorithms, modding weapons and systems. They talked about things Shepard didn't really care nor understand but she never complained about the nerd talk. She appeared to actually enjoy their banter, that or enjoyed just having them with her. And soon, they'll be with her again. Even if Shepard is broken and traumatized over what happened, Tali and him will be there for their best friend. No matter what.

"Actually Tali," Garrus started, his mandibles spreading to make him appear to be grinning. "There's no us with Shepard."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"How'd they find her anyway?" Joker asked...again. Apparently the Normandy's pilot didn't believe the notion of an Alliance squad just happened to find Shepard on the deserted Citadel. The crew automatically assumed that Alliance found the battered commander during a sweep. But Garrus knew that wasn't true. The turian knew that the Alliance was busy repairing ships and systems, something that'll take months to resolve.

Somehow Shepard got up onto tired legs and made her way to some sort of communication port. What communication port? Garrus had no idea. He wasn't even sure that systems were up and online on the Citadel. But Garrus knew for a fact that Shepard, alive, wouldn't sit idly by till someone came upon her. She always took matters into her own hands, it's how she did things while growing up on the streets on Earth.

"When we see Shepard, you can ask her for the story." Liara T'soni stated from behind Garrus. Tali and him, while on the way to the hospital Shepard was in, had others tag along for the ride. They were Joker, James, Kaiden, the ever bored sounding Javik, Liara, and Steve Cortez. So pretty much everyone that circled around Shepard, those who accompanied her into battle or those who took her to battle.

"I'm still surprised to see how quickly the Normandy was repaired. I guess hearing the news of Shepard's survival had everyone working with renewed vigor." Kaiden said from his spot beside James. And he had a right to be astonished. Within a week, they had the Normandy's systems up and running but not quite back to how it used to be. When they left the little planet they landed on, Alliance Navy ships helped escort the limping Normandy into dry dock as soldiers led their small group to a hospital.

Soon they stepped into a bright white room with doctors and nurses scrambling about as they tried to assist as much wounded men and women they could. Garrus watched their escort hold up his hand to stop them from proceeding forward before a stern looking doctor came over to them.

"Garrus Vakarian, correct?" The graying-haired man asked, jotting something down onto his clip board when the turian nodded. "I am Doctor Josh Martian, head of the team working on Shepard."

"Doctor." Garrus greeted by shaking the man's hand. "How bad is she?"

"I can show her to you, now that she is stable. However, only two can come with me; the rest will have to wait here." The doctor informed and Tali was the first to step forward, silently telling everyone that she was going to accompany Garrus.

Once that was settled, the two crew mates followed the fast-paced doctor. They walked in silence, and the silence only helped strengthen the nervousness Garrus was feeling. And when he glanced over to Tali, he saw just how nervous she was too just by the way she was fiddling with her fingers.

"One moment, please." The doctor insisted, turning around to face Garrus and Tali. "When we found her, she had more burns, cuts, and broken bones than I could count. On top of that, we noticed her left arm was beyond repair. So we had to amputate it."

It felt like someone had sucker punched Garrus right in the gut. A Shepard without an arm. She was a soldier, the use of two arms was a high priority. Sure she always joked about chopping off her arms just so she could have an early retirement but the life of a soldier was something she loved. But now she was down to one arm and Garrus didn't want to see her face when Shepard finds out about it.

"Also, the Commander seemed to have fallen into a coma. However, her life is no longer in danger so it'll be just a matter of time till she wakes up." One blow after another and Garrus felt sick. Tali took everything in, in contemplative silence as her hand moved to hold Garrus'. The quarian gave it a reassuring squeeze, a reminder of some sort that Shepard was alive and will wake up soon. Not now. But soon.

Tali and Garrus said no words to the patient man and the doctor finally opened the door with an id card. The room that was revealed to them was dim and quiet, save for the beeping sound coming from the machines. But it was a boring room, a sad looking room. And it looked even sadder seeing their commander motionless on a white bed in the middle of it. 

Garrus couldn't make his legs obey the command to enter the room so Tali had to gently pulling him in, her support becoming the sole comforting thing out of all of this.

"Keelah..." Tali mumbled. Garrus' mandibles pressed firmly against the sides of his face as he took in the sight of his commander. For the operation, the doctors shaved Shepard's hair, her red hair something Garrus always loved about the commander. That and her expressive green eyes. Green eyes closed off from view.

The sleeve of her hospital gown hung loosely over her shoulder, the sleeve limp from the empty space her arm was once occupying. Bruising on the underside of her jaw and stretched to mid cheek. A line of stitches decorated the area just a few centimeters from her right eyebrow.

Garrus watched her chest rise and fall, a telltale sign that she was alive. A comforting sign. A much needed sign that Shepard was still in his life and fought to make it that way.

Spirits, he loved her. 


	3. Sense of Duty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which months pass while Shepard is in a coma and people bicker about her survival rate. Then...war.

In the far reaches of her mind, Shepard knew that hushed voices were arguing back and forth. Voices that possessed familiarity to Shepard, voices she longed to hear but couldn't quit call out to. Not yet anyway. She wanted to see the people who held these voices but not when they carried an angry tune. Shepard didn't want to see, know, hear, what caused them to get so riled up. She didn't want to go through anymore pain, battles, death. Shepard just wanted to relax since she well deserved to do just that.

"I'm three seconds away from kicking your ass from this room if you keep thinking that way, Kaiden." A dual-toned voice had Shepard's heart beating just a tad bit faster. That voice. Out of the sea of voices collected in wherever she was, that was the one she wanted to hear.

"Just because you're fucking her doesn't give you the right to do what you please." Another voice snapped back, a man's voice. It was a voice she remembered loving but no more.

"Keelah...will you two just shut up?" A woman's voice rang out. Shepard recognized that voice. A person Shepard told dirty secrets to had that voice. But this voice sounded exhausted, a total contrast of her chirpy one she had back on the Normandy. Hearing how pained her friend was, had Shepard itching to reach out and comfort her. Like a friend shoulder. But her arm felt like a brick, tingled slightly with each little movement. So Shepard tried her other arm.

Nothing happened.

 _Oh, right. I remember now._ When an Alliance squad secured Shepard from the Citadel, the doctors on board of their ship went on and on about how they might have to amputate Shepard's arm. She already knew that had to be done and in all honesty, Shepard wasn't worried about it. Some things just wasn't avoidable and if that means losing an arm will send her into an early retirement, then Shepard was okay with it.

"Hey, I just saw movement."

"Are you sure?"

"Quiet, will you?"

"Just shut up everyone!"

Now these voices were just annoying her, with their constant bickering. It had her nose bunching up and her eyebrows drawn downward. "Three...two..." 

"Shepard!" Everyone called at once, interrupting Shepard's scratchy, weak countdown. She could picture her friends trampling over each other just to get closer to their commander. The image had her smiling though it wasn't a big smile but she attempted at it being one.

"I'll go get the doctor!"

"Give her some water!"

"I'm contacting the Council and Hackett right now."

"About time you woke up, Shepard." With some effort, Shepard cracked her eyes open to the beautiful sight before her. Tali was at her right side as the quarian held onto her hand with her three fingered one. Kaiden, with his never changing looks, paced back and forth at the foot of her bed. Javik had himself leaning on a large window. James sat on a chair, busily typing away on his omni-tool. And lastly, Garrus, whom stood on her left side with a hand resting on her thigh.

A second later, Liara came rushing in with a cup of water and a doctor fast on her tail.

"Here, drink." Liara insisted once Tali side stepped out of the way. But Shepard had no strength to lift her head, so Garrus helped her to do so without a word. Liara urged Shepard to drink slowly but her mouth felt like a desert.

"She stayed comatose longer than expected but her vitals are reading normality, with all things considered." The doctor informed as Shepard took one last gulp of the cool water then stared blankly at the gray-haired name.  _Longer than expected? All things considered? What?_

"Yeah, who knew she'd sleep for seven fucking months?" Kaiden said harshly which had Shepard staring at him with wide eyes. Her stomach dropped at that little fact. Seven months. Sure she was practically dead for two years but was her injuries that extensive that she was in a coma for seven months? Shepard knew that she had some internal bleeding, several broken bones and fractures, a slight head injury, and a fucked up arm but did that really cause her to sleep all those months?

"Kaiden, calm down." Garrus gave a warning tone, a tone that had Shepard giving the turian a questioning and concerned look.

"Calm down? Have you seen what it looks like outside of Earth? Have you? We needed Shepard when this shit started."

"Now is not the time nor place for this discussion!" Tali snapped, her sudden anger surprising Shepard. Beside her, Liara sighed and the sigh had the commander shifting her attention to the asari. But Liara said nothing, just gave Shepard a sad frown before giving Shepard's shoulder a small squeeze.

"What the hell is going on?" Shepard managed to say after several minutes of just looking dumb and confused while her friends rambled on and on about shit Shepard had zero clues about. She watched as Garrus turned his face away from Shepard, watched as Tali's shoulders slumped in silent defeat, watched as Kaiden stopped his annoying pacing the clenching the railing on her bed, and watched as Javik turned to look out of the window he was just leaning against.

"War." The Prothean simply stated, not bothering to grace Shepard with the full details. That was until James stood from his chair and went over to Shepard's bedside.

"One final war, Shepard, and you can finally retire."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

From what Shepard managed to gather and organize from the information poured into her unprepared head, three races joined together to start a new government, so to speak. The Council, stubborn and dim witted as always, didn't entirely reward the efforts the Krogan, Quarian, and the Batarian made during the fight against the Reaper. Sure, the Council gave the krogan a planet or two to colonize but when the three races pushed to get a spot on the council, they were ignored or shot down.

Many found it unfair and so the three races sat down and decided to go against the Council in order to form their own government. While many rallied around the idea, some met the proclamation with dislike, like Wrex and Tali for example. Wrex didn't want his people in another war, not when they were finally cured of the genophage. And so he and Bakara took whatever people who didn't agree with the war and came to Earth to discuss possible solutions with the Alliance.

As for Tali; her, Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, and Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema rallied as much supporters for those against the war with Council and joined Wrex and his people here on Earth for peace talks.

The batarians on the other hand all supported the war and took up arms, glad to finally avenge all those who were pained because of the Council.

"And what about us humans?" Shepard asked, crossing her legs on her bed as her finger flipped through the reports displayed on a small screen. Over the course of James explaining everything, everyone settled in chairs but Tali and Garrus sat with Shepard on her hospital bed. Minutes into James' explanation, her doctor paused him when Joker came waddling in with sweat pants and a tank top for Shepard to change into.

"Well, some finds it odd how, after months since the war ended and Udina died, another human Councillor wasn't made. So some joined up with those fighting against the Council." James' words had Shepard sighing, annoyance at how stupid people were quickly bubbled up inside of her.

"How do you suppose this will all end?" Shepard questioned.

"In my opinion, with the Council dissolving and a brand new form of a galactic government being formed." Liara said from her spot beside Javik, the two looking a lot closer since Shepard last remembered.

"I just don't see how everyone can come to a compromise. Not when the Council is hellbent on keeping things how they are." Shepard simply stated, seeing how this war is a much needed one. A war that could change things for the better but how people are going about it...is just wrong. Just two months ago, they killed both Primarch Victus and Councillor Sparatus. The shuttle they were using was shot down by batarian forces, the true killers in this war.

Their death only launched the war into massive levels. Missiles were being sent off and many colonies had to be evacuated to escape the heat of the encroaching war.

Now the turians are scrambling to replace the two vacant seats, many leaning to Quentius to fill the Council seat while rumors are spreading about a certain Vakarian becoming the next Primarch.

"Ya know, I just wanted to retire now that the Reaper threat was over." Shepard sighed, her long time dream blowing up to tiny little bits and pieces. From her side, Garrus chuckled, the sound bringing a smile to her own face.

"There's no peace without Shepard. So there's no retirement for you." Garrus teased, earning a laugh from Shepard as the rest join their commander. The sour mood in the room immediately lifted when Garrus joked and Shepard laughed.

"Then I hope they know they won't see me much in battle." Shepard gestured to her lonely shoulder, the view made clear by her black tank. Even though she laughed when she said it, the mood dropped once more, each one of her friends frowning and not looking at her.

"Well...you do have a way with words, Shepard." Tali reminded her commander and Shepard smiled at the memories of her dealing with pesky politics, which ended with Shepard yelling.

"Hey, my yelling is what got us to win against the Reapers." Shepard gave a fake pout which made those around her laugh.

"Let's see if you can use those skills to end this war." Liara said, her voice ever so smooth and soft.

"I'm starting to think that dealing with the Reapers were much easier."

Much easier. 


	4. Expect the Unexpected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which stuff happens. Oh yeah, stuff. Lots of stuff. Good stuff. Bad stuff. Stuff.

Two weeks passed. Two weeks of helping Shepard regain her strength, which surprisingly, didn't take long. Two weeks of speech planning and organizing but mainly rehabilitation for their commander. They got her well enough to push her around in a wheelchair, the doctors stating that it'll take a lot longer for her to even run on steady legs, let alone walk.

But Garrus helped. He helped in every way possible The turian didn't like seeing Shepard in such a broken state. He didn't like knowing she had to rely on liquid for nourishment. Garrus watched nightmares plague Shepard each night, her pleading whimpers echoing hours after she wakes.  As much as he loves that his commander is alive and on the road to a steady recovery, Garrus hates how being alive will be torturous for her. Shepard doesn't say much about those who died, those who were close to her, nor talks about her dreams, but Garrus knows that Shepard blames herself for their deaths and it's weighing heavily on her.

"Glad to see the galaxy that I  _saved_ decide to create another war. Now, Councillors, tell me why you allowed shit to get so out of hand." Shepard snapped from her wheelchair, the commander shockingly dropping her paragon nature to yell at those she protected many times. 

"Now now, Commander, the situation is being handled." Tevos said with her hands raised in an attempt to calm the pissed off Shepard. Garrus grinned when Shepard scoffed at how silly Tevos sounded, or how stupid the asari sounded.

"Bullshit. Are you going to answer my question or not?" Garrus imagined Shepard, if she could, stand up, walk up to the three Councillors and knocked them upside the heads like a mother would do to her children. But here she was, sitting and glaring, trying to make the sight of her in a wheelchair look intimidating. And frankly, Garrus believed that Shepard could make a unicorn costume look intimidating.

"I'm sure you are well aware of how this war started or presumed to be started, at the least." Quentius, the new turian Councillor, spoke up as if he decided to be the balls of the Council. 

 _Presumed?_ Garrus' eyebrow plates rose, his blue eyes drifting down to look at Shepard, just to see her reaction. And he was surprised even further. Garrus expected wide eyes or a questionable frown but the turian didn't expect her green eyes to narrow as if Shepard knew she hasn't been told the whole truth. A not surprised Shepard didn't bode well with Garrus. It never did. Shepard knowing more than what her friends heard, saw, only meant things were worse than it seems. 

"And? Go on." Shepard urged as she leaned forward to rest her only elbow onto her knee. 

Quentius looked nervously at Tevos and Valern, the salarian Garrus wishes could be replaced. But when the two shook their heads at Quentius, the turian seemed to ignore their opinions as his brown eyes returned to Shepard. "Before Sparatus died, he and the rest of the Councillors had a discussion over a comm link they thought was secured. It was, for the most part, but the conversation was some how leaked to the public."

This news had Shepard glaring icy daggers at Tevos and Valern before she looked back at Quentius. "And what were they talking about?"

"What is done, is-"

"They didn't want to entertain the notion of adding more to the Council. They believed things were going perfectly well with just the three of them, their three races, as it has for many years before." The turian interrupted the gaping asari next to him. "The last time they added two more races onto the Council, it ended horribly. It was something they wouldn't dream of repeating."

"Keelah..." Tali murmured from the other side of Shepard, the quarian shaking her head.

"Who was the one to leak it to the public?" Garrus asked when Shepard remained silent, her head bowed as she appeared to be looking at the floor.

"I was."

Everything seemed to freeze in the room. No sound was made, no breathing could be heard. No one said a thing when everyone besides Shepard looked back at the second asari occupying the room. 

Liara T'Soni.

Her blue face held no regret, her blues eyes revealing no emotions that she might have felt. She just stood there looking at no one expect for Shepard. Garrus was stunned at the vital information that was suddenly presented to them. It was something Garrus, again, didn't expect but maybe he should have. Maybe he should have expect the Shadow Broker to have every little piece of information, good or bad, and use it when the time came. But he didn't and his was looking like a fool with his mouth open and his mandibles slack.

"Why am I not surprised?" Shepard muttered, a harsh laugh following shortly after.

"Shepard, I-"

"I'll be returning to active duty as soon as I am cleared for it. Until then, assemble a new crew for the Normandy and get my girl up and running." Shepard announced, coldly cutting Liara off from whatever excuse she was going to spout.

"Understood, Commander and since you were presumed dead for a time, I'll give you your Spectre status once more." Quentius said as he tapped a few things into a terminal. Shepard's omni-tool beeped with a notification. "Welcome back, Commander Shepard." Quentius gave a satisfied nod, one that Shepard returned and Garrus had a feeling he was going to be her favorite Councillor.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

An awkward, tension filled silence filled Shepard's hospital room once her doctor finished explaining to her about a prosthetic arm he, his fellow doctors, and a few salarians could provide Shepard. She immediately agreed to the procedure that'll take place within a months time. Some would think Shepard should be worried on whether or not the arm could prove useful under fire but that was the least important thing on her mind right now.

Right now, it took all her effort not to yell at Liara.

"I thought when you became the new Shadow Broker, you'd avoid using any information that'll start a war." Shepard said after several minutes of unbearable silence.

"The people deserved to know. They had the right to know so don't damn me for doing what I thought was right!" Liara snapped from her spot beside Javik. Shepard whirled around on her bed to face the asari.

"Exactly! You thought it was right but it wasn't! You could've went to the Council, showed them what you found, and insist on a compromise! Hell, you could've blackmailed those assholes but you didn't!" Shepard fired back, her heart beating faster and faster with each passing second. She felt Garrus' presence draw closer to Shepard's bed, probably scared she'll overexert herself and faint.

"I didn't think of that! The person I wanted suggestions from," Liara paused to turn teary eyes towards Shepard and the commander felt her heart squeeze at the sight. "Was sleeping the months away, in a coma without a single clue of when she'll wake up."

"Liara, I-"

"Ever since I leaked that fucking conversation, I have been kicking myself everyday since then. Each day I was thinking of what I could've done to prevent this war." Liara confessed, her voice filled with built up emotions. "So Shepard, you need to end this war and if it ends up with the Council dispersing then so be it."

"Actually, that might have to be for the best." Kaiden butted in.

"I agree." James added, "I don't care much for politics and all but I think we might need something bigger and better than the Council."

Shepard looked down at her lap, her mind reeling with ideas, the pros and cons of a new form of government, ways of ending this war in a peaceful manner. But what Liara, Kaiden, and James said was right and Shepard wasn't in no way going to deny that. Something needed to change. Shepard knew how unreliable the Council was when it came to Saren at first, the Collectors, and eventually the Reapers.

"I think the first step into bringing order is talking to the Quarians. Them or the Krogan but they might not be as understanding as the former." Garrus suggested, his three fingered hand coming to rest on her shoulder and she couldn't resist grabbing a hold of it with her own.

"I could help with that." Tali informed and Shepard nodded her gratitude. As silence resumed in the room, Shepard turned her head to the approaching footsteps of Liara. The asari didn't say anything and really, she didn't have to. As tears made a path down those blue cheeks, Shepard knew just how sorry her friend was and Shepard forgave her. The commander didn't outright say it though. No. They just had to look at each other to understand their thoughts, their actions.

This was the woman who stuck with Shepard since the beginning...sort of. Liara became a devoted friend to Shepard when the red head unsurprisingly saved the asari. Sure, they might've bickered back and forth about things, mainly about Liara not really helping Shepard with the Collectors but they were like sisters to one another. And they became like that once Shepard found out it was Liara who saved her, who played a hand in her coming back from the dead.

"I want every message sent, every conversation made from the rebels. I want to know where their main stations are located. I want to know every leaders name, every commander, general, whatever, that is working under them. If you find useful or useless information, I want it." Shepard ordered and Liara soaked in each command with a firm nod.

"Yes, Commander." 


	5. Honor Bound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which things get a little more complicated.

"Shepard." Garrus stressed her name and the sound of it caused the commander to smile. His parade of protests begun as soon as Shepard boarded the still repairing Normandy. The poor turian nearly had a heart attack or will have one soon when Shepard stood up from her wheelchair and was given a cane to walk with from Tali.

"I'm fine, Garrus." Shepard said for the sixth time since she stepped onto the ship. Shepard, in truth, is doing this for appearances sake. She didn't want her crew to see just how badly damaged she was or is. It wasn't good for moral, even Garrus knew that but he still isn't happy with it. 

A day after Liara's confession, Shepard's doctor presented a highly movable synthetic arm for Shepard. Shepard agreed immediately and wasted no time getting into surgery to have the procedure done. Of course, this meant more weeks of rehabilitation but Shepard was pleased that she can start shooting guns now or punch reporters in the face. And of course, Garrus nagged Shepard each step of the way. He scolded her when she started to do too much than required with her new arm or didn't want to do anything due to laziness. He became her personal coach and the rest of motley crew made jokes out of it.

"Good to see you on board the Normandy, Commander."

"Traynor." Shepard greeted with a nod of her head but froze when a blonde woman walked up beside Traynor.

Kahlee Sanders.

And she was none too happy to see Shepard.

"I told you to protect him." Sanders reminded firmly without preamble. Shepard flinched, her eyes dropped to the floor as she waited for the expected scolding. "You promised and you let him die! He once told me that you were like a daughter to him and you let him die like that! How could you?" Each word was like a punch to Shepard's heart. Each angry word reminded Shepard one failure out of many.

"And yet, here you are, alive and walking around when it should him commandeering this ship." Sanders spat.

"And he should be," Shepard squeezed out from her tight throat. Garrus stepped closer to Shepard in a show of comfort that was much appreciated. "But he died with the honor of a soldier and honor of a man. We both knew the consequences if we failed but we charged ahead, risks be damned. We both knew one of us or both would died but Anderson was honor bound each step of the way."

Shepard looked up, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the wide eyed Kahlee Sanders. "He died with honor and you spit on it. You accuse. You hate. Anderson was like a father to me so I would never and will not shame his memory by being so spiteful. He did his job and I did mine."

Every single person in the CIC went quiet as Shepard's voice almost neared shouting levels.

"It's best you leave, ma'am." Traynor interrupted the silent filled tension and Sanders gave a firm nod with misty eyes before following Traynor. Once Sanders disappeared from view, airy whooshed from Shepard's lungs and Garrus held her elbow to keep Shepard steady.

"She'll apologize once she comes to terms with what happened, you'll see." Garrus concluded as an attempt to comfort Shepard but she knew it'll be a long time before that happens.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Here's a list of people to pick up before joining meeting." Garrus watched Liara hand a list to Shepard as their commander stood over the navigation map. Before Liara came up, Shepard stood there for several silent minutes, just staring at the map with narrowed eyes. Those in the CIC looked on with concern in their eyes but didn't voice that concern.

But Shepard snapped from her trance and took the tablet Liara offered then laughed after a second looking at it.

And she continued laughing.

"Oh lord, this will be interesting." Shepard grinned before handing the tablet over to Traynor. Afterwards, the red head looked at Garrus with humor in her emerald colored eyes and it was a sight to see.

"I take it we're picking up old friends?" Garrus guessed as he crossed his arms over his chest. Shepard simply widened her grin and that was all Garrus needed for an answer. Really, he couldn't help grinning himself. Two different groups finally meeting each other. It'll most definitely be interesting.

"So...who first, ma'am?" Traynor asked with a raised eyebrow once she read over the list of people and locations.

"The majority of the group is stationed off on Omega so we'll head there first." Shepard announced as she used the map to select their destination. "I want every possible room clear of storage for bunking. When we land on Omega, supplies are to be properly stocked. Oh and before we talk off, anyone opposed of having more aliens join the crew..." A pause to make sure everyone in CIC and those listening from intercom was paying attention. "Please get the hell off my ship."

And no one made a move to leave.

It was Shepard Magic, really. She had a way of kicking racism's ass and making people see that aliens are just as normal as humans. And that's one of the things Garrus loves about Shepard. When he first met Shepard and joined up, Garrus was greeted with glares and snide remarks. But soon, as the commander continued having non-humans join her crew, the humans started to see things in a different light and soon...everyone got along swimmingly.

"Who first?" Garrus asked once Shepard slowly and carefully stepped off the platform. When she reached out with her non-synthetic hand, Garrus didn't hesitate to grab it.

"I know that Zaeed and Kasumi will be waiting at the docking bay. I doubt Samara would step foot in such a place...maybe she will. Miranda rounded up Jack and Jacob, how she got Jack, don't ask me."

Squeezing her hand, Garrus escorted Shepard into the elevator so they could check things out down in the shuttle bay. "Too bad Mordin and Thane can't be with us..."

Shepard laughed at that as the door closed and they started to descend. "Oh they're with us, just not physically."

"Yeah, just not physically." 


End file.
